V(ariant)
by AshleyMCL
Summary: Penny is in a new school. One strange thing about it: you can't escape. (I will introduce more characters soon)
1. V(acany)

**A/N: Another fanfiction! Based on the book Variant.**

* * *

As I walked out of the car, I studied my surroundings.

A 12 foot gate around me and fences everywhere. There was a big brick wall and a lot of trees.

I took a breath in as Mrs. Shermansky, the owner of Sweet Amoris Academy, lead me to the front of the school. "This school is amazing. Free grounds, amazing views and very delicious snacks and lunches, Miss Rodney. Maybe you might find some friends of your own." And with that, she skipped along the rocky floor, singing something is delight.

I turned around to watch her as she left in her car. I heard shouting above me, and I stepped back and lifted my head. People, teenagers, were cheering. Some were even crying. I felt someone push past me, but I didn't turn around. All I heard was a cold voice that gave me chills.

"Run while you can."

* * *

A few families ago, I signed up for this scholarship. I had to answer a series of questionnaires about how stupid my life is. How life is being a poor foster child with no friends or real family. Not one person that actually knows you, your ins and outs, your moods and face expressions. At the end of the week, I got a phone call from Mrs. Shermansky that I was in. I was so happy.

But now I'm not so sure.

As I stepped into the hallway, people were still cheering. I was very confused, but didn't let it show.

I felt someone pull me, and soon I was in a mini-office. It was a male. He had tired amber eyes, but a smile that never left his face. "Hello, I'm Nathaniel. I do the new student orientations."

I stared at him. He noticed, but he ignored it.

"Someone told me to run while I can. What does that mean?" I made my voice expressionless, trying to stare into his eyes.

He still didn't look at me. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I walked toward him, putting my palms on the desk. "How long were you here?"

"A year and a half. Why?" Nathaniel still had a smile on his face, but in his eyes he was hiding something.

I nodded and sat on a hard chair.

"Anyway, let's get started. I have a lot to teach you. There are a lot of rules here, so please listen closely." Nathaniel smiled.

"No trying to escape. If you do, you could get detention," Nathaniel's smile faded away at the word 'detention', but it came back. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What's detention?"

He looked at me but didn't say anything. "You will get small laptops for your classes."

"Can I talk to a teacher or the principal? This is getting crazy."

He looked surprised, but he kept his smile into place.

"There are no teacher. There are no principals. Just us students."

I opened my mouth, but he talked before I did.

"We teach. We serve the cafeteria food. We have jobs," Nathaniel shrugged.

"Jobs?" I repeated.

"Yes, jobs. But not all of us have jobs. Jobs are chosen by the contracts your gang has."

_Gangs? You've got to be kidding me. _

Nathaniel seemed to have seen my confusion. "Gangs are the group you choose once you come here."

I got up to walk out of the door. This was getting crazy. Maybe he was joking?

I turned the doorknob once. It didn't open. I tried another and it was no use.

When I turned around, Nathaniel was fiddling with something on his wrist.

"The door is locked. You don't have a chip to open the door."

I turned my head and walked up to him. He was wearing a watch.

He pointed at it. "When you come here, you get something, either a necklace, bracelet, or watch, and you put it on. It unlocks your dorm room and any place your contract allows you to enter. But you can never take it off. It's waterproof."

Nathaniel picked a box up out of nowhere with the bracelets, necklaces, and watches. He looked up at me, expecting me to take one.

I shook my head. "No thank you. I'm getting out of here."

Nathaniel sighed. "If you don't wear it you won't have access to your dorm."

"I don't need a dorm. I don't need a uniform. I don't need this place," I said sharply.

He sighed heavily again. His smile was now gone. "Look, I don't want you to get in trouble. You could die if you try to escape. Just put this on."

"I rather have life living with a family that isn't even mine than be here!" I spat.

Nathaniel stopped. "It's not only you like this, you know. None of us have parents."

"I know..."

"And even if you escape, who are you going to go to? What if everyone escapes? Who are they going to go to? Nobody has a family."

I didn't say anything. He was right.

I took the bracelet and put it on my wrist without a word.

Nathaniel smiled, handing me the rule book. "I like you, Penny. You'll do well here."

* * *

I walked to the girl's dorm hallway. I looked up, seeing a security camera. I turned around, seeing another.

And another.

And another.

It was too much to count, and I immediately knew someone was watching.

I continued to walk, still looking at the cameras when I bumped into someone.

She was taller than me, bouncy blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

"Sorry. Really, I am sorry."

She was about to pounce on me when someone stopped her. She only scratched my cheek.

I touched the blood that dripped of my cheek. I pushed away the person that was blocking her from me and pounced on the blond girl.

She screeched and I enjoyed the sound. I slapped her face clean when the person from before pulled me off of her.

I felt someone else pull me away onto a couch.

She had straight flat hair and her uniform on. She folded her hands on her lap, smiling as wide as Nathaniel did.

"Welcome to Sweet Amoris Academy. I bet you already found out about the gangs."

I nodded, my cheek feeling tight.

"I'm Melody, a member of the Society. There are three different groups: Variants, Havoc, and of course, the Society."

I zoned out for only a second. Maybe Nathaniel was a part of this group.

"We are the safest choice, actually. We are take the safe path, never getting in trouble. And of course, we never end up in detention. It's because we follow the rules."

"What is detention?"

Melody smiled. "Detention. It's a place you go when you don't follow the rules. Once you go there, you never come back."

My eyes went wide. No wonder Nathaniel didn't tell me about it.

"Anyway, you should choose"- She was cut off by the girl that I bumped into earlier.

Melody was pushed off the couch as she sat there.

"So, I'll forgive you if you join the Havoc. I'm Amber."

Her voice was as if she was joking, but she had a serious look on her face.

"The Havoc is the best group. You don't have to follow the rules – just live how you want."

I shook my head rapidly, getting up.

"I don't want to be in any group. I want to leave. This stuff is stupid."

I walked toward the door, but there was at least half of the Society girls blocking the door. I felt Melody's cold hand on my shoulder.

"Penny, that's not how this game works. Either be in the best or be nothing."

I turned around, studying her face.

She had a snarl and her blue eyes were dark.

I felt another hand on my shoulder, this time pulling me with force. Amber.

She was chewing her gum with her mouth open, wearing her uniform top tightened with a safety pin and her school uniform skirt.

I pushed past them both. "I don't want to be in any of your groups. Leave me alone."

"You'll regret it. You will." Melody's voice sent chills down my spine.

"Leave Penny alone. If she doesn't want to be in your group, she doesn't have to." A voice beside me made me jump.

The person grabbed my arm, unlocking the door with a buzz and a click of her necklace and taking me out to the hallway.

"Thanks." It was the only thing I could say.

The girl had long white hair. "No problem. But if you don't want to be in Havoc or the Society, you're in the V's."

And with that, she left.


	2. V(aliant)

**A/N: This one is short, but I have something planned for the next chapter. -mischievous laugh-**

* * *

As I walked to my dorm room, I kept an eye out for Melody and Amber. I didn't want them to get to me. There aren't any teachers, after all.

When I finally found my dorm room, I lifted up my bracelet. Once I heard the buzz and the click, I opened the door.

Inside was the girl with white hair. She was obviously my roommate. I sat myself down on the hard bed, staring at her.

"The V's are probably the smallest group, you know. But I still like it." She almost sounded like she was talking to herself, lying on the other bed next to mine and staring at the naked ceiling.

I nodded. She continued talking. "Sometimes we lose a member, but another one always makes up for it."

"Lose? What do you mean by that?" She looked at me, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Detention. We'll all go there one day. By the way, I'm Rosalya. Call me Rosa if you want to."

I opened my mouth to speak, but a knock on the door told us it was lunch time.

Rosalya ran out of the room quickly, almost tripping.

In my mind, I thought about what she said.

'Detention.' All my life, I thought 'detention' was sitting in a classroom after school as punishment.

But here, it was something different. Something that I didn't understand.

Not yet.

* * *

After lunch was over, Rosalya introduced me to a bunch of other Variants.

There was one boy named Armin that had a video game console that he had bought using points, or so he says.

Another with white hair and black tips that was drawn to his notebook, named Lysander. A girl with black hair and a cap that looked a bit too old to be here named Kim, another with purple braids and a large sketch pad, named Violette.

There was also a boy with black hair that was Rosa's boyfriend. His name is Leigh.

There was another male with bright blue hair and headphones. He had a bright smile, and his name is Alexy.

I looked around the small group. Nathaniel was definitely not in this gang.

Rosa saw me looking around. "Oh, there are more people. Most of them left to another group, since we were so small." She grinned, her mouth barley a smile.

I nodded, not bothered by the small group.

"Oh, we're allowed to change groups?" My words sounded horrible aloud.

They all looked up at me.

"There's some random days that Iceman lets us change groups." Armin was the first to speak.

"Who's Iceman?" Armin laughed, looking up from his console once more. "Iceman is the guy on the television screen in the lobby. He tells us what to do and our schedules. He also tells us the daily punishments."

"Don't worry, I won't change groups. I have a question, though. Did anyone ever try to escape?"

The whole group exchanged looks.

Kim spoke this time. "Yeah, every person that came here tried. They never did escape, though."

I stared at her for a moment. I know that she said no one could, but believe me, I will.

"Were there any members of the Variants that changed groups?"

Everyone looked down at the same time.

"Yeah. Nathaniel, Castiel, and Kentin. They only left because…" Lysander's voice trailed off.

He looked a bit upset. I simply nodded, walking away.

* * *

As I walked back to my dorm room, I bumped into someone else.

_Why do I keep bumping into people?! _

"Hey, watch where the hell you're going!" The person said.

I froze.

I knew that voice.

'_Run while you can.' _

I looked up at the person. He was tall, long red hair and a few chains and a black jacket on top of his school uniform.

Havoc.

I walked away, but he grabbed my arm.

"So, are you regretting coming to this shit bag jail house?" His voice was cold, just like I remembered it to be.

I stared at his dark grey eyes. "I'm going to get out of here."

He took a strand of my hair and put it behind my ear.

"I'd like to see you try."

Then he walked away, turning left to the boy's dorm hallway.

I frowned, feeling my red cheeks.

I will try. And I will escape.


	3. V(ibrant)

**A/N: Ugh, I forgot to add Mr. Red-head and Kentin-the-cute-one in this! The next chapter would also be long, with Kentin and Castiel.**

* * *

The next day, we had gym outside. It wasn't your typical gym class, using sports and all from the curriculum, but we had to do random things.

One group could just sit around, another would do track, and another would play soccer.

Though only Society was allowed to use the ball sine they bought it with their points.

I jogged up the track court, walking up to Armin and Lysander. They weren't talking at all before, just kicking the rocks off the court.

"Hey, guys," I said. "What's up?"

They both looked up at me, smiling. "Nothing. It's pretty obvious," Armin laughed.

I looked around the field. I met eyes with Nathaniel, and I waved. He quickly looked away.

"So…" I said, my voice trailing off, "Who's guarding the brick wall? Anyone can escape."

Lysander looked up immediately, his bright eyes flashing with worry.

"Where is Leigh? Where is Rosa?" He scanned the field, his eyes stopping on to running figures.

"What? What is it?" Armin tugged on Lysander's arm, but he ran off.

Armin and I ran after him, the wind hitting hard against the naked skin of my cheeks.

Lysander stopped at a tree. He hid behind it, grabbing me and Armin's arm in the process.

I looked over his shoulder.

Rosa and Leigh were climbing the wall. There was no one guarding it, and they were lucky.

I felt the need to run after them, just to climb over the wall and be free, and I almost did. Armin grabbed onto my shoulder, pulling me backwards.

All of a sudden, I saw Nathaniel come out of nowhere. He didn't see us, but he sure saw Rosalya and Leigh.

They were on a branch now, trying to swing off of it to get to the other side.

"What do you think guys are doing?"

His usual tourist voice was now deadly, giving me shivers.

I couldn't hear the rest over our loud panting. My heart was racing so fast, I was sure it would explode.

I looked over Lysander's shoulder again, seeing that Rosa and Leigh had fallen to the ground. There were more Society members now.

Melody was there, too. I saw her grab Rosa's collar, and pick her up, then throw her on the ground.

"So? Any excuses? Or do you want to die the easy way?"

Rosa and Leigh's mouths were shout, but could tell they were scared.

I jumped out from the tree I was hiding behind. My heart was racing faster, and I could hardly breathe anymore.

"I…I… I told them to meet me here."

Nathaniel wasn't looking at me, just looking at the ground.

Melody stepped closer to me. "Then why were they on a branch?"

"I told them to meet me here. They took a jog."

Armin and Lysander came over to help me, too. "We told them to meet us here. They were watching for us out of the tree." Armin's voice was a bit crackly.

Melody was speechless for a while.

"The fact is," Lysander said, "that's what we're going to say when we appeal their detention. And you know the rulebook, Melody—what's the punishment for making a false accusation for detention?"

"They were trying to escape. Everyone here knows that." When Melody said this, Nathaniel walked away. I don't know why. He was acting weird.

Lysander walked up to Melody and lowered his voice so low I could barely here him. "And everyone here knows what detention means. Do you really want that?"

Melody was shocked. She walked away, throwing a hidden pepper spray can that she would've sprayed at them on the ground.

I wiped my face, sucking in a deep breath. Rosa's eyes were wide, and so was Leigh's.

We didn't say anything while we walked back.

Lysander leaned next to Leigh. "Don't ever do anything as stupid as that ever again."

!

We soon found out that the doors were locked. Some people said it was accidental, someone said it was on purpose.

But then we found out that they sent 10 sleeping bags down. Of course—it was a trick.

Violette told me they always did this. It was to 'train' us and 'prepare' us for certain things.

But for what things? What future do we even have living here?

I pushed away any sticks on the muddy ground, lying there soundlessly.

I looked over to my right to look at Armin. For once, he wasn't playing on his video game console, just staring at the sky.

He must've noticed me looking at him, because he turned to me. He smiled, and I could see a small blush on his cheeks.

"Tough day, huh?" He turned back to look at the sky.

I nodded, staring at the pinkish-blue sky that was above me.

"Did you ever try to escape?" I asked.

"Yeah. It never works, though. You'll either get detention or no food for two days."

"Oh." My voice was faint.

Armin rested his hands on his chest. "I remember the first time I came here with my brother. Just a few months before you," he stopped, and added: "The V's were the biggest group. But we lost almost all of them since they went to detention." His voice was sleepy and soft.

"Do you know anyone who is still here that left our group?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Castiel, Nathaniel, and Kentin. No one else. You seriously keep asking that question," he laughed.

I laid my hands beside my body. I felt Armin's fingers brushing over them, and when I turned to him, he was still looking at me.

I felt a major blush appear on my cheeks, and turned away quickly.

"Sorry…"Armin said, his voice low.

I patted his shoulders in forgiveness, giving him a look of sympathy.

He laughed again, before drifting off to sleep.

He was still facing me, and I felt his hot breath against my ear.

All I could think about was the forest scene. I was unlocking more secrets every day.

!

Then next morning, the doors was unlocked. The first thing I did was approach Nathaniel.

He did ignore me yesterday, and I wanted to see what was wrong. It couldn't be anything to big, anyway.

I opened the door to the small office he owned, swinging it with so much force it hit the wall.

He jumped off his seat in shock and his face showed more shock when he noticed it was me. "Hey, Nathaniel, why are you ignoring me all of a sudden?"

He looked back down at his papers, pretending to check his work. "I'm busy. Can you come back later?"

I sighed, coming closer to his desk. "Not until you tell me what I did."

He moved farther back. "Please leave."

"No." I crossed my arms across my chest giving him a look of seriousness.

Nathaniel let out a tired breath, crashing down on to his desk chair. "Have a seat."

I sat down, looking at him.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I repeated.

He didn't look up at me. "I'm not ignoring you now."

"Why are you always ignoring me when you're with your gang? Are you scared of Melody or something?"

He looked at me, squinting in annoyance.

"Of course I'm not scared of Melody," he said. "I can talk to you if I want to."

"And I can talk to you if I want to. Same thing, right?"

He stared at me.

"See? I'm talking to you. And I can if I want to—"

"I get it! I get it, Penny. I understand." He was standing up now with his hand through his hair.

He took a deep breath in, smiling his 'it's-okay-I'm-a-tourist' smile again. "I won't ignore you."

I laughed, hugging him for a while. He wrapped his arms around me. I honestly didn't notice until the door opened.

Melody.

"Nathaniel! I was looking for you—"she stopped.

I let go quickly, walking out of the room without looking back.

!

As I walked back to my dorm room, I met up with Lysander. He was sitting on the floor of our hallway, writing in his notebook mindlessly.

He nodded a hello as I sat beside him.

"So, what happened between you and one of the member of another gang?"

He looked up at me, and I couldn't read his face.

"How do you know about this?"

I shrugged with a smile. "Yesterday you extended one of the person's names when you said it."

He looked confused.

"I know things."

He nodded again, this time with a chuckle.

"So? What happened?"

He sighed, looking up at the ceiling, just like Rosa did.

"Castiel and I used to be in the same foster care. We were best friends. When we arrive here together, also with my brother, we were both in this group. One day, we got in a fight over someone," he stopped, taking a breath. "He then changed gangs because he thought we weren't good friends anymore."

I stared at him. I felt a sudden sadness for him, like I felt like I've been through this before.

But I never did.

I never had a friend before, anyway.

He looked up at me. "You know, I think you're a good person."

"Why?"

He smiled. "Because… You're brave. And you risk your own life for others. Just like you did for Rosa and Leigh."

I smiled a fake smile. I was such a lie. I didn't even risk my own life for them. I don't even know if I did. I never did anything like that before. Maybe it was because I didn't have anyone to risk my life for.

He leaned in a bit close, then hugged me.

He let go quickly, though. His face was completely red. I laughed.

"It's easy to make you blush, isn't it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, smiling a bit more than before.

I got up to leave, and I could feel his stare into my back.


	4. V(aguest)

**A/N: I took some time writing this since exams were in the way of everything. In this chapter, Penny finds more info about the school and it's past.**

* * *

When I entered the dorm, my nose was stuck with strong smell of paint. I held my nose as I walked in to see Rosa zipping up a camouflage jacket. She also wore camouflage everything else—pants, socks, hat, top.

Before I could ask her what she was doing, she said: "Look at the note stuck on our door."

I looked at the door. It had a small sticky note stuck to it, wrinkly and ripped at the edges.

It read: 'Please come down to the paint ball field at the left side of the building. Since you students have no classes, you will be playing paint ball for the rest of the day. The losing team will have no food for two days, and will get no points at the end of this month. It will be Variants as defense and Society and offense, while Havoc will be the refs. It starts in 15 minutes."

On top of my bed, there were plain camouflage clothing, a paint ball gun, and three grenades filled with cheap paint.

I tuned back at Rosa, and she shrugged and sighed.

I took a deep breath.

Today was going to be a long day.

!

My camouflage outfit made me look like Godzilla, thanks to Rosa and Leigh. They put small sticks in my hair, a thousand pieces of grass on my jacket, and painted arms green and black.

They really were perfect for each other. On our team, Lysander was the 'nurse', he had to touch the people that get hit to make them get up again, and Violette, Alexy, Armin, and I were the players.

I was 'backup': I had to keep everyone safe. Since Violette was the best player, she was at the front, having to shoot everyone. Armin and Alexy were both in the middle, doing a bit of both.

Leigh and Rosa gave us some pointers before the game started. Always think for the team. Never go on your own.

And from Lysander, don't escape.

Alexy was wearing extremely bright clothes. His jacket was painted a bright shade of orange and his pants were a light green. I felt some pity for him. He would be caught first.

Violette told us to be careful. Always stay behind the trees. I nodded. She was the best. I'll have to listen to her.

I watched as Melody climbed up on a big rock in the middle of the field.

"Excuse me," she said, trying to get everyone's attention. I noticed she was holding onto Nathaniel's hand.

"We will start the game now. As you already know, Havoc will be the refs. You will have to get the flag off the enemies' team to win. The key is safety."

I saw her give a glare to Rosa and Leigh before turning back to everyone else.

She whistled, and I felt Armin's grasp on my hand.

I was soon behind a tree with my teammates.

Violette didn't look afraid. She usually was shy, but this was a whole new side to her.

She bended down to us, her voice barely a whisper.

"Just follow me. Don't be worried." She grinned and got back up.

We crawled behind her, looking around. There was a Society member coming up to us, and Violette shot him right in the head.

She winked. "If you shoot them in the head, they can't get up."

Alexy nodded and smiled, patting her hair. I saw as her cheeks became tomato red, then crawling away.

I looked at Armin. He shrugged, just like Rosa did, and followed Violette's lead.

While we were walking, I lost track. I ended up in the middle of somewhere I didn't know.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I immediately turned around, pointing the gun straight at the strangers head.

He stepped back and tripped. I laughed mockingly, about to shoot the crap out of him.

He raised his arms up in surrender. I stopped, lowering my gun. He didn't have any weapons, so I was going to let this fly.

He had brown hair and green eyes, and was pretty tall. At least for me.

I stared at him. He looked like someone Alexy had explained to me a few days ago. He looked like he was in Havoc.

"Is your name Kentin?"

He slowly nodded, getting up while taking dirt of his clothing.

"Is your name Penny?" I noticed how his voice was exactly how Alexy described.

This time I nodded. He grinned sheepishly and stood beside me. "Are you in the V's?"

"If you know my name then I'm pretty sure you know what gang I'm in," I responded, rolling my eyes.

Kentin randomly took out a cookie. He didn't have any pockets, so I was completely confused.

"Want one?"

I shook my head, but he shoved it into my mouth. I almost choked before actually swallowing it whole. I frowned and slapped his shoulder.

"Hey, I know our gangs hate each other, but you don't have to try to kill me."

He smiled. That's when I noticed that even if he looked like a tough-guy, doesn't mean he is one.

He was a softie.

Kentin grabbed my arm all of a sudden. "Hey, did you ever try to escape?"

I paused, looking away from him and deep into the forest.

"No," I said, my voice was colder than I wanted it to be. Since the day I've been here, I've been wanting to leave. And I've only been here for three weeks.

Kentin didn't say anything for a while. I felt his hand on my shoulder, and I turned back to him.

He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were looking everywhere—the trees, the wall, the floor, the animals that were watching us—but not me.

"I came here about 6 months ago," he started. "It was horrible. I was the shortest kid there, and the newest. I was too scared to ever escape, I never tried once. Until…"

Kentin stopped all of a sudden. He looked at me once, biting his lip and walking away.

I watched him. Was there something he was hiding?

Obviously there is. And I was going to find out.

!

I carefully walked back where I was before. It took me a while, since I didn't know where the hell I was going, but I finally came back.

The game was still on, but I couldn't see any of my teammates. When I was talking with Kentin, I heard a few shots.

I looked forward. The flag was almost right in front of me, and I could see the shiny white of the cloth.

No one was coming toward it. No one was coming at all.

I looked around once more.

No one still.

Then I ran toward it. The air was soft on my cheeks, like the soft tissue papers my foster family number 1 always used to have.

I smelt the strong scent of paint again—someone was close. I tried to run faster, but I couldn't.

When I was about three inches away from the flag, my eyes widened from the extreme shots against my back.

They really hurt. A lot.

I fell face first on to the ground.

"Are you eating dirt again? You know that is disgusting, right?"

That voice made me cringe.

Amber.

I turned over on my back.

"Nurse," I called weakly. Amber laughed.

"I'm not sure your little mystery boy is going to come."

I sighed.

She shot me with paint on my leg. "You really should cut it out."

Amber snorted, about to shoot me again, when we heard the whistle.

"And the Variants win!" I heard Nathaniel's voice say.

I got up, looking at where the flag used to be, and then looking at Violette's grinning face. Behind her was a paint splattered Alexy and Armin.

Lysander was also behind them, writing in his notebook. He looked up at me, and smiled a little.

Armin walked next to me and pulled me up with a laugh. "Aren't you supposed to be in an art museum?"

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Shouldn't you?"

We all left to celebrate our winning party.

!

We were walking with huge smiles plastered across our faces. The sun was out, and the clouds were still.

A perfect day.

We didn't really know where we were going, we just kept walking.

As I walked, my bruised and paint splattered leg bumped into something. It was rock hard, and hurt like shit.

I turned to face them without looking at what just hit me. They were all quiet, their faces shocked and still.

I followed there gaze and looked back.

There was a big rock with writing on it on top of grass and mud. It looked like a graveyard.

'To Candy. One we will miss.'

My eyes fell on another rock.

'To Lynn: We love you. We never wanted this to end this way.'

There was about a dozen more, and I read them all.

I turned back at my friends. "What is this place?"

They looked at each other, not saying a word.

Leigh opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

We all faced the area. There were small pebbles and flowers on top of the mud and grass, and even a love note.

"It is a graveyard, if that's what you're thinking."

It was that voice again. The voice I heard the first time I came.

We all turned around at once, staring at the red headed figure in front of us.

No one said anything. It was Castiel.

He pushed passed us all to get to the graves. He ran his fingers along the rock.

"This happened when the war started."

My eyes went wide. "The war?"

He looked at me, then back to the rock and nodded. "The war occurred before the gangs were created."

I saw him glance at Lysander, then back.

I turned to my friends. "Is this true?"

They all nodded. Kim sighed. "I'm—No, we're sorry we didn't tell you… we all forgot."

The paint on my clothes was now burning my nostril. They all walked away slowly.

I watched them leave, then I turned back to Castiel.

"What happened with you and Lysander?"

I had nothing to talk about. I barely knew him—the only information I had about him was that he used to be friends with Lys.

I was closer to Lysander then I was to him, anyway.

He shrugged his shoulders and pretended to leave, then turned back.

"If you ever want to talk about something else, come to me. Maybe we could escape together one day."

He left.


End file.
